CREPERIE DU MONDE, HACKNEY

As you may have seen from my previous post, I spent a lovely day in East London on Saturday with my friend Cassie who took me to her favourite creperie on Chatsworth Road, Lower Clapton, just a 5 minute walk from Homerton overground station.

Creperie du Monde is a lovely little place. The interior is full of reclaimed wood and distressed furniture with empty vintage picture frames on the wall.

Its really tastefully designed and has a really nice chilled feel to it. If you’re lucky enough to get there when the old comfy leather at the front window is empty, you could easily spend an afternoon there, whiling away the hours, eating crepes and drinking coffee.

The kitchen area is open so you can see the crepes being made.

As I was queuing to put our order in, I stood, mesmerized, as they served up beautiful looking plates of food. So much so that I didn’t realise that one of the waiters had actually been trying to speak to me for about a minute whilst I stood there with my mouth hanging open, staring at the food!

The mouthwatering combinations on the menu make the decision making process incredibly difficult.

Cassie and I spent ages changing our minds. She’d had the Amazon Rose before and loved it, but then thought that she should try something different. The worked out well for me…it meant I could order the Amazon Rose! And so I did…

The Amazon Rose consists of Gruyere, Mushroom, Aubergine, Roasted tomato and Rosemary. All my favourite ingredients! The crepe was, as you’d expect, light as a feather. As they’re cooking it, they sprinkle the dried herbs on the hot plate and toast them for a few seconds before pouring the batter over the top. That way the herbs are incorporated into the crepe mix itself. The whole place fills with the smell of the herbs as they’re toasting and its a wonderful scent.

I absolutely loved my crepe. I was so glad I’d opted for that one as I was very close to ordering the Of The World one. That consists of Chistorra (family of chorizo), Red peppers, Aubergine, Courgette, Rocket, melted Camembert and mixed herbs. Mmmmm….it still sounds good. I think I’ll go for that next time.

Cassie ordered The Italian Influence…

Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella, fresh Rocket and du monde Tomato sauce.

Again, this was delicious. The aroma of the room when they were making this was incredible. The air was thick with the smell of oregano. It tasted like the lightest pizza you could imagine.

I had ordered a strawberry milkshake to have alongside my crepe. I’m a bit like a child when it comes to milkshakes…every time I see them on a menu I have to order one. I don’t know what it is with me and milkshakes but if I think I’m going to get a good one, I simply have to get it. Even though I know they’re filling and they will usually ruin my appetite for whatever food I’ll be having with it. But I never learn.

About five minutes after I’d ordered it, a rather shy waiter notified me that there was no ice cream left. I looked at him blankly. I wasn’t sure if he was telling me there was no ice cream left ANYWHERE and therefore I wouldn’t be able to get my milkshake, or there was none left right at that moment and I would have to wait for a while. He stood looking at me rather nervously then Cassie and I both pointed out that there were two shops directly across the road where one might be able to purchase some ice cream. Again, he looked a bit nervous, then looked at someone who I assumed was his boss. Five minutes later I saw him running across the road for some ice cream. Phew! Five more minutes and I would have bought the ice cream myself!

But my God, it was worth the wait! I was presented with a pint, yes a PINT of gorgeous sweet, rich strawberry milkshake….in a pint bottle. Amazing. I think this might have been the highlight of my day!

We had decided to share a sweet crepe after our savoury ones. Again, the choices were amazing.

Choices included your standard sugar and lemon, or Nutella, all the way to The American – peanut butter, banana and jam; London Loves – banana, caramel and a scoop of ice cream (the crepe itself is shaped into a heart with the ice cream in the centre); Danes Delight – cream, custard, strawberries, chocolate syrup and crushed biscuit; Samba Banana – cinnamon with hot sliced banana and dulce de leche. You can see why it was so hard to choose!

We eventually decided to pick 3 we really wanted. The first one we both said was the Tropical Pecan – Pecan & fresh Bananas with Maple Syrup and Cinnamon, crushed biscuits and cream.

Wow! It was like heaven on a plate. Conversation was virtually non-existent as we both tucked in. All that could be heard was the odd muffled “Wow…this is amazing”, but otherwise speech was forgotten as we savoured every bite.

If I lived down the road from this place, as Cassie does, it would be dangerous. I could easily see myself sitting here at the weekends, stuffing my face with crepes and drinking copious amounts of milkshake and getting fatter and fatter!

Saying that, I will happily be making more trips East to work my way through their menu.Creperie du monde
51 Chatsworth Road, London, E5 0LH
Tel: 020 8525 5735